


Sugar High

by MaddieFrickenClark



Series: A Perfect Dysfunction - a Clark/Manawa Family AU [3]
Category: Fear the Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alcoholism, F/M, FTWD, FearTWDFamily!VerseAU, Halloween, M/M, Sex, Sexual innuendos, The kids build a fort, and Halloween candy, brief mentions of past abuse, drunk maddie, fear the walking dead, feartwd, halloween 2016, lots of netflix, nick is immature, sex scenes, strands good at making cocktails, warnings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-26
Updated: 2016-11-26
Packaged: 2018-09-02 07:46:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8658514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddieFrickenClark/pseuds/MaddieFrickenClark
Summary: It's Halloween 2016 and the Clark/Manawa family invite some friends around for a party. Maddie embraces her past as a bartender, Luciana trick or treats for the first time, Nick goes shirtless and a blanket fort is built.





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

 

Madison Clark's eyelids fluttered open. Her head was nestled against her partner's chest and she could hear his gentle breathing. She stretched out an arm and shifted slightly before yawning. She could taste both cheap liquor and her lover at the back of her throat and she could feel his hand on her bare thigh. 

She smiled fondly at the thought of the night before. It had started normally enough, with her retreating to the garage in search of a stiff drink. She had an alcohol problem, it wasn't as if she drunk during the day or in front of her family, but she was an alcoholic nonetheless. She downed bottle after bottle in the darkness of her Camry late in the night when her depression became too much to bear. She'd drink from a souvenir mug so that the contents would be less obvious to both onlookers and herself. Liquor was her only escape from a dark past and more loss than she'd care to think about. It was a way for her to forget the scars that littered her body, all of her failures and the tiny baby which she would never cradle. It stopped her from thinking about all that she had done, unforgivable, godawful things.

After a few more mugfuls than she'd care to admit, she was surprised to see her boyfriend slip in through the side door. She'd attempted to hide the bottle but he saw it and asked for a glass. They'd polished off the rest of the contents and before too long they were both naked in the back seat of the car. He had slipped into her carefully and they were soon making love. It was then when she remembered that he was the one thing stronger than all of the liquor she downed.

Soon enough he had taken her by the hand and they had quietly, in order to not wake up any other occupants, moved the sex to the bedroom. She remembered his hands skirting over her body, his touch hot against her thighs, ass and back. She could almost feel his lips brushing against her hard nipples and their hips silently banging against each other. She was usually the more dominant one in the relationship and the bedroom. She had moaned, climaxed and murmured into his hair. It had been heated, quick, and effortless. They had collapsed into a sweaty, wet heap and had whispered lovingly to each other until they both drifted off. It had been one of those nights that reminded her why she kept going, kept fighting, kept living. 

She peered at her sleeping partner and smiled affectionately. His black curly hair was a slight mess around his head and his lips appeared to be curved into a smile. His skin was a light brown, he was of Maori descent, and he was completely naked aside from a sheet which covered nothing but his left foot. She eyed the traditional Maori tattoo that ran over his stomach in a series of thick, bold lines. He was a real buttoned down man and a giant tattoo didn't suit him but Maddie didn't mind, it really turned her on to tell the truth.

He was an English Teacher and she was a Guidance Counsellor. They had met at the school where they both worked. He was adapting to life post his messy divorce and she was struggling to cope after her husband's suicide. They'd shared drinks numerous times before they had both ended up in her bed. They were each the stability and second chance that the other was hoping for and they had not ever regretted their relationship for even a moment. 

"Babe," she began in her thick Southern accent as she ran her fingers over her partner's chest. "You gettin' up?"

Travis Manawa opened his large brown eyes and smiled happily at the blonde peering down at him. "Angel," he was the only person in the world that was allowed to call her something so ridiculous. "You're up early."

"Couldn't sleep, and we've got a shitload of stuff to get done before tonight." 

It was October the thirty-first and about a month earlier, when she had had a few too many drinks, Maddie had invited a few friends around for a dress up themed Halloween party. This was something that she regretted deeply later, when she was on a last minute costume search, but her partner didn't seem to mind. 

Travis nodded and sat up against the bed head, he pulled his girlfriend into his lap and nuzzled his face into her shoulder. "You smell lovely."

Madison rolled her eyes, "just the most normal thing for you to say to me." She turned her face and smushed her nose into his chest, "but, then again, you smell pretty damn good yourself."

"Well duh! Of course I do, I have you all over me."

Maddie batted him with the back of her hand and beamed lovingly. "You can flirt with me all you'd like but I think we need to get up and get coffee because we have a heap of teenagers and young adults bustlin' around this house."

The blonde climbed off of the bed and began to walk toward the ensuite. Travis watched her, observing her form. She was tallish and curved. He ran his eyes over her, down her sides, over her smooth pale back, which was tattooed with large cursive script reading 'Travis', and down the subtle curve of her butt. When he had first met her she was about forty-six. She had made him guess her age and he'd put her at thirty-eight, which had been the perfect amount of flattery for the blonde. Now she was fifty-one and she still looked great, Travis decided she aged like a fine bottle of wine. 

"You comin'?" she motioned toward the shower.

Travis climbed out of the bed, "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

 

He followed her into the bathroom and watched as she the flipped the faucet on. "Just a quick shower and then I need a coffee." Madison mused as she stepped into the cubicle, him following closely behind. 

"I think I'm going to need a few to wake up. Do you think the others are up yet?" Travis lathered up a round puffy bath sponge and began scrubbing it over his chest.

Maddie shrugged, "I don't know. Leesha and Ofelia are probably watching TV on Alicia's laptop but I'm sure Nick and Luciana are still in bed. When Nick was little he used to sleep in for hours. It drove me crazy." Her teenager daughter, Alicia's, friend Ofelia was sleeping over and her teenage son, Nick's, girlfriend Luciana appeared to be a live in fixture as of late. Madison knew that the pair were intimate but she didn't mind. Her son had been a Heroin addict living out of a drug den for the last couple of years and now that he had gotten himself clean, gone back to community college and met a nice girl she wasn't going to complain. She had given him a safe-sex talk though, just as a precaution, and had thrust a pack of condoms at him, she was too young to be a grandmother. 

Travis nodded, "yeah, I hope they're all okay."

The blonde grinned and rose an eyebrow suggestively, "can you give me a quick scrub, there's still soap of that sponge thing.”

The English teacher nodded and began to gently scrub at the counsellor's shoulders before he travelled down to her back. As he ran the soapy sponge over her chest and breasts he heard her moan softly and watched as she squeezed her eyes shut happily. "Is it bad that I sorta wanna do you right here, right now?"

"It's not bad but it's sort of impractical, we have a party to prepare for." He stroked her cheek and smiled.

"I'm sure we can do it in like five minutes and you'd never know the difference."

"You willing to bet?"

"Hell yeah," Madison licked her lips, gyrated her hips and pushed her partner up against the shower screen before he quickly slipped into her.

X-X-X-X

"That was fun." It turned out that they'd easily done it within five minutes and had decided on five more five minute sessions. The couple, buzzing and awake post their early morning sex, stumbled out of the shower a good half hour later. 

"A bit too fun, the kids probably heard it. You were getting pretty rowdy."

"Well you were a bit of a naughty boy."

"And now the neighbourhood knows it too."

She batted at his still wet bare chest playfully, "shut up, I wasn't that loud."

"You sure weren't quiet."

The blonde began to dry herself with a towel, "stop denying yourself, you loved it." 

He ran the towel over his legs and shook his head, "well I suppose you're right."

"When am I ever wrong?" 

They dressed quickly. Her in a camisole, a loose unbuttoned blouse and a pair of tight jeans that did wonders for her curves. Him in a checked button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a pair of denim jeans.

"Coffee?" She queried, her Southern accent strong.

"Definitely." He pressed his lips to her forehead as he felt her fingers slip under the hem of his shirt and skirt over his tattooed stomach.

 

They slipped quickly out of the bedroom, regaining their serious parental demeanours and common lack of innuendos.

 

Madison entered the kitchen/dining/living area and peered toward the table. Travis had his arm tightly around her shoulders and she was resting her head against his chest. Her eldest, Nick, was seated at one end of the dining table, with his girlfriend, Luciana, sitting diagonally beside him. Her daughter was seated at the other end, and Ofelia was positioned between her and Luciana. All three girls were closely examining a mess of cosmetics spread across the table while Nick was tapping away at his iPad. Four steaming mugs of coffee were scattered around the table and the room smelt of slightly stale burnt toast.

 

“Morning, you four.” Maddie greeted as she released her partner and proceeded in kissing both Alicia and Nick on the top of their heads. She knew that they were growing up, with him nineteen and her seventeen, but they'd always be her babies and they were never too old for a kiss from their mommy. 

 

Travis sat himself down at the table and smiled, “you guys sleep well?”

 

Nick grinned, “yep, Travis.” He paused, a sly grin slipped onto his face, “I heard you were being quite the naughty boy this morning. What ever mom did to punish you must have been pretty rough because there were some very loud noises coming from over there.” He snickered and pointed toward their bedroom door.

 

Travis began to blush, “I have no idea what you're talking about…”

 

“You do know that the walls are super thin in this house right?” Ofelia laughed as she glanced at both the adult’s horrified expressions.

 

“We know,” Alicia grimaced at the thought. “And Nick you can't talk, I still cringe when I remember that thing you once said to Luciana about how ‘Little Nicky’ was missing getting some action.”

 

Now it was Nick’s turn to blush, “how did you hear that?”

 

“Thin walls, Nick.” Luciana beamed and batted at her boyfriend's cheek. She then rose a thin, black eyebrow and ran some fingers through her long black hair, “pero me encanta poco Nicky.”

 

Nick chuckled. Ever since he started dating Luciana, who was born in Mexico, he began to learn Spanish just so they could say inappropriate things to each other in public and people, especially his mom, wouldn't be able to understand them.

 

Alicia groaned and shook her head, “you guys always forget that I'm top of my Spanish class and I can understand all of your stupid innuendos.”

 

The ex junkie grinned, “that's what you get for being the smart ass of the family.”

 

“Aye!” Alicia declared before she turned to her mother, “mom tell Nick off for being a mindless brat.”

 

“Nick, stop bein’ such an asshole,” she joked with a swift grin. “And how about you go make me and Travis a coffee?”

 

“Fine,” Nick rolled his eyes and shuffled toward the kitchen, a childish look of disgust on his face. 

 

“Honestly Luciana I don't get how you date him.” Ofelia grinned as she popped a lipstick open and examined the coloured point.

 

“He's my brother and I think he's a pain.” Alicia added quickly

 

“I'm his mother and he drives me crazy,” Maddie chuckled.

 

“You women are mean,” Travis interjected. “Nick’s a good kid.”

 

The lanky boy approached the table, “why is everyone suddenly like ‘let's just roast poor old Nick Clark’?” He clapped a hand affectionately on Travis’ shoulder, “except for you Travis, I like you.”

 

“Well Nick I just had to defend a fellow man from the scrutiny of a bunch of ladies!”

 

Maddie laughed as she lovingly glanced at her two favourite men. When she had first started dating Travis, Nick couldn't stand him, but now, a good five and a bit years later he finally seemed to have accepted that Travis was not a replacement for his father. “Don't scrutinise the scrutiny unless you are willing to be scrutinised yourself.”

 

Travis grinned, “I suppose you're ruthless when it comes to scrutiny.” He squeezed his partner's hand, “so I'd better shut up.”

 

She creased her eyebrows in a mock stern expression. “Oh you'd better.”


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

 

“You two honestly won't stop yawnin’,” Maddie mused as she put down her coffee mug and peered at her daughter and her daughter’s friend. Alicia had met Ofelia one time when she was shopping in the mall. She hadn't been able to find a shirt to match the shorts she liked so she asked the salesgirl for advice. As it turned out they had much more than clothing styles in common and they ended up chatting the day away about music and TV shows before they decided to go for coffee after Ofelia’s shift ended and now, about six months later, she was practically a new live-in family member. Alicia had always been painfully mature for her age and Madison was happy that she'd found an older friend with common interests. “Did you manage to get any sleep last night?”

 

The two girls peered at each other sheepishly before Alicia spoke up, “not really, there was Sons of Anarchy to be watched and sleep is for the weak.”

 

“Well I can't blame ya there, Jax Teller ain't bad to look at.” Maddie grinned and wiggled her eyebrows.

 

“Moooom!” Alicia whined, embarrassed.

 

“He ain't,” the blonde defended.

 

Ofelia grinned, “I think I'm with your mom Leeshy.” She absentmindedly flicked her Instagram feed down. “And then there's that prostitute that looks just like you, Maddie.”

 

“I look like a hooker now, do I?”

 

Alicia shook her head, “yeah there's this woman and she looks heaps like you.”

 

“Does she get any action with Jax?” Maddie queried, a suggestive glint in her hazel eyes.

 

“Yep.”

 

“Well then I suppose I'm not complainin’.”

 

Travis put down his phone and turned to Maddie. “I had to just finalise the task sheet for an assignment that my grade tens are about to start on.” 

 

“Have you graded the English essays for my class yet?” Alicia asked.

 

“Yep, and I'm proud to say that we have another A-plus for Miss Clark and I promise that there is no bias and that you deserved it.”

 

“Thanks,” Alicia grinned. She was halfway through her final year of high-school and despite how eager she was to go to college she knew that she was going to miss seeing her mom and Travis around the place. “What time are Strand and Thomas coming around?”

 

“I said four-thirty for drinks and platter thing but we’ll have dinner later.” 

 

“Are they bringing any food?” Travis asked.

 

“Yeah, Victor says he's going to whip up something special.” Strand was quite the culinary expert and Maddie must admit that she adored his cooking.

 

“Great, I don't even know why but I'm sort of eager to get dressed up. The last time I wore a costume it was for book week when I was still in grade school.” Travis grinned at the memory. He had gone as his favourite character from a novel series he read, probably very different to the Halloween costume he was about to put on. He was going as Rick Grimes from ‘The Walking Dead’, which was a series that himself, Maddie and both kids religiously watched. He wasn't a giant fan, it was a bit too bloody for his liking, but he knew his girlfriend was ever so slightly infatuated by Rick, thus leading to his costume idea.

 

“I'm eager to see you finally get into this costume as well,” Maddie purred softly as she leaned her head against her partner’s shoulder. “You're going to make one hell of a sexy Rick, babe.”

 

Nick glanced toward his mother, “do we have to get changed soon?”

 

“If you want baby but I'm finishin’ my coffee.” Maddie shrugged.

 

“How about we watch an episode of something first and then we get changed? Mom’s right, we still have forever before the dinner party.”

 

“Sons of Anarchy?” Ofelia suggested.

 

Nick grinned, “what about Pretty Little Liars, we’re almost finished season five?” Alicia had started the drama series only a few weeks ago only to find her brother constantly joining her on the couch for every episode. He'd denied interest for days until he finally cracked and admitted that he was addicted.

 

“Ohh Nick and his liars again. It's sorta like Charlie’s Angels but instead it's Nick’s Liars.” Alicia mocked, only to earn herself a middle finger from her brother. “But Ofelia’s already seen it though.”

 

“I can watch it again, that's totally fine.” Ofelia replied nonchalantly.

 

“Great, I'll go get Netflix set up.”

 

While the four young adults squeezed onto one sofa, Madison continued to sit at the table beside her partner. She found herself absentmindedly running her fingers through her partner’s thick black curls. She loved his hair, it was so soft and smelt, oddly enough, of peaches. “Whatcha thinkin’ about?” she asked him softly.

 

“Nothing much, Chris just texted me and said that he and some of his friends are probably going to walk around this neighbour and he might drop by to say hello.” Chris was Travis’ son from his first marriage to Liza Ortiz.

 

“Okay, awesome.” she stroked her partner's cheek. “I remember the first time I took my two trick-or-treating. Nick was five and Alicia was three and they were both so desperate to go so I dressed them up, as a kitten and a mummy, and we walked around the neighbourhood. Stephen didn't want to come, I didn't want him to come anyway, so it was just the three of us.”

 

“That sounds like so much fun,” he paused. “I wish that I could have been there, I'm sure Nick and Alicia would have looked adorable.”

 

Maddie smiled and for a brief moment she pictured Travis walking around the neighbourhood with them. Alicia was propped up on his shoulders and she was holding Nick’s tiny hand. They would have been an actual family, a family where her children’s father wanted to be with them, where he would leave his office, where he wouldn’t hurt her. She knew it was wrong but she almost wished that Travis was their real father. “That would have been amazing, you would have loved them when they were little.”

 

“I'm sure I would of.”

 

X-X-X-X

 

Costume Time - Maddie and Travis

 

“So let’s do this,” Madison announced as she slid her jeans down her legs. For the party she was dressing as Detective Rhonda Boney from the movie ‘Gone Girl’. Both herself and Travis had read the book before they decided to watch the movie together. While they watched it Travis seemed to pay a little bit too much attention to the cop and when she confronted him, claiming that he appeared to be turned on, he had blushed and admitted that he had the hots for her just because he thought she looked like his girlfriend. Maddie had laughed, not seeing any resemblance between herself and the other woman, but as a joke she had decided to dress as the character anyway.

 

She quickly removed her shirt and her camisole before she pulled on a thin blue business shirt and some black trousers, the same ones she wore to work most of the time. She then stepped into some black patent heels before she turned to her partner. “Come on, you need to get your Andrew Lincoln on.” The blonde proceeded in slipping some buttons free from his shirt before she slipped it off of his torso. He was more soft and pudgy than he was muscular but Maddie didn't mind whatsoever. He was her type of guy, he had a heart much bigger than his muscles. She skirted her lips over his pecs, he tasted good.

 

“Angel, I sort of want to remove that blue blouse but we honestly don't have time. I promise tonight.”

 

Maddie shrugged, “fine, but a promise is a promise.”

 

“When have I ever broken a promise?” Travis pressed his lips against Maddie’s before he pulled his jeans down and replaced them with a more worn pair that was splattered with fake blood. 

 

“You're a man of your word, aren't you?” Her fingers slipped away from his stomach as he buttoned a worn shirt up. He then shrugged on a jacket and grinned.

 

“How do I look?”

 

“I'm so used to you in blazers and neatly pressed shirts, you look so ruggedly sexy. You should dress like this more.”

 

Travis laughed, “you know I just bought three new shirts and got some brand new trousers hemmed, don't you?”

 

“And that's why I love you.” Maddie nipped at his nose, “makeup time, babe.”

 

The couple slipped into the bathroom and stood together before the mirror. Maddie scooped up her wig, a long light brown coloured ponytail. She scooped her thick blonde shoulder length waves into a bunch and clipped it to her head. She then proceeded in pulling on the wig.

 

Travis grinned, “so this is Madison Clark with her natural hair colour huh? I like it.”

 

“I'm hotter blonde, admit it, this makes me look like a tired old lady.”

 

“A very attractive brunette, more like it.”

 

Maddie beamed, “now let’s lash out at your jawline with eye pencil and make you look all rugged and unshaven.”

 

“I never thought anything so ridiculous sounding would turn me on.”

 

“Well it has, hasn't it?” She began sliding the pointed end of an eye pencil over the soft chocolate brown flesh of his chin. “This is looking good, it still would have been easier if you had just not shaved for the last week, like I suggested.”

 

“I didn't want to graze your face with stubble…”

 

“You think I'd care?”

 

“...and I think beards look terrible. The beards on those guys in that biker show the girls like? They're horrid.”

 

“I don't want you to have a huge beard like a member of an outlaw motorcycle gang, I just meant a touch of rugged stubble.

 

“Well it's too late, let’s just stick with a makeup beard.”

 

Maddie nodded, “okay then babe.”

 

Once she finished his makeup, which consisted of the beard and an array of messy cuts, bruises and dirty patches created with some of her cheap cosmetics, she turned to him. “Alright, it's my turn now, let's do it.”

 

“Do you want me to do it for you? I'm actually okay with women’s makeup. I watched Liza apply her’s for years before the divorce.”

 

The blonde could barely stifle a laugh, this man could do anything, and it was actually really hot. “Okaaay,” she replied, stretching the a. “But first I need to check up on the kids, I want them to go pick up some last minute things from the store.”

 

“Tell them to grab some more frozen spring rolls and dim sims, Angel.”

 

“Will do babe.”

 

She hurried out of the ensuite and through her bedroom toward the living room. As she approached the four kids, who were awkwardly squeezed onto one couch, she saw the closing credits were rolling on their episode.

 

“Guys, I need a favor.”

 

“Yeah, what is it mom?” Nick glanced up at her.

 

“Can you four just quickly drive to the supermarket and the liquor store and grab some things? You can take my car and I'll leave my credit card and a list with Alicia.”

 

Alicia shrugged, “No problem mom but I've just got to get changed.” As it turned out, all four of them were still dressed in their pyjamas.

 

“So do I,” Ofelia added.

 

“Me too,” Luciana stood up.

 

“Can I just go in this?” Nick motioned to his shirtless torso and pair of baggy boxers.

 

All four women screwed up their face. “Oh hell no!” they all hurriedly replied with a laugh.

 

Nick just rolled his eyes, “women.”


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

 

“Hurry up Leesha, get into the car!” Ofelia yelled through the partially open window on the driver’s door. She was in charge of driving all of the others to the supermarket considering Alicia was still learning, Luciana wasn't very good and no one trusted Nick behind the wheel. Ofelia, herself, had earned her license well over a year ago and she liked to think that she was quite a good driver.

 

“Yeah Alicia, move yo ass!”

 

“Shut up, Nick,” Alicia rolled her eyes and climbed into the passenger seat. They were all seated in her mother’s 1990-something Toyota Camry.

 

Ofelia turned the key and listened as the ignition whirred to life, “we're going now, you have the shopping list Leeshy?” She peered at her brunette friend once she reversed out of the driveway.

 

“Yep, and I have mom’s credit card!” She waggled the piece of plastic, “so I suppose we can have a bit of fun when it comes to the shopping.”

 

“What does the list say?” Luciana queried as she leaned over from the backseat.

 

Alicia squinted at the paper. “Wow, mom’s writing is horrible.”

 

“Give it here,” Nick snatched the list from his younger sister. “Mom’s writing is shit but my writing is shit too so I'm good at deciphering shit, I shit you not.”

 

“Well I don't give a shit Nick, just read the damn thing.” Alicia declared from her seat.

 

“Okay, calm yo tits!”

 

“No you calm yo tits, Nicholas Clark!” She rolled her eyes again and laughed. “Luciana slap him for me please!”

 

“One slap coming right up!” Luciana poised her hand inches from his face.

 

“Luci!” Nick screamed, his voice a few octaves higher than normal. “I'm reading, I'm reading!” He held up the list and peered at his mother’s messy scrawl. “Okay she wants us to buy soda, like coke and all that crap, some crisps, some plastic cups for the soda, some frozen dim sims and spring rolls, whatever shit generic ice cream is, and candy for the trick or treaters.”

 

“And what do we need from the liquor store?” Ofelia queried.

 

“She wants a bottle of vodka, a couple of bottles of red, a couple of whites, a rosè and a few six packs.” Nick replied.

 

“Great, we’ll go to the supermarket first and they have a liquor-saver store next door so we’ll go after.” Alicia added.

 

“So do you want me to told onto the list?”

 

“No way,” Luciana snatched it from her boyfriend. “I wouldn't trust you to hold onto anything.”

 

“How are your driving lessons going?” Ofelia asked Alicia.

 

“Really well, Travis is an awesome teacher.” Her mom’s boyfriend had ended up taking her for drives mostly because her mom had road rage issues and they got nothing done when Maddie was busy flipping off other drivers and yelling ‘dickhead’ out of the window.

 

“That's great, you'll be able to drive us around soon.”

 

“Yeah, that'll be cool.”

 

X-X-X-X

 

A good five minutes later the foursome pulled over in the supermarket parking lot. Alicia climbed out of the car and straightened up her outfit. She was wearing a loose red singlet top that exposed a strip of midriff and some short denim shorts. Her long chestnut brown hair was down and she had a pair of floral converses on her feet.

 

Ofelia was dressed in a floral peplum top, some distressed white skinny jeans with a pair of painfully large salmon coloured chunky wedge heels. Nick, on the other hand, was wearing a loose white t-shirt that read: ‘Keep Calm I'm Sexy’ and a pair of blue jeans accessorised with converses and sunglasses. Luciana had a matching shirt that, instead, read: ‘Keep Calm, I'm with Sexy’ along with some denim shorts and beige ballet flats. 

 

Suddenly Nick rolled past the trio of girls in a renegade trolley. “Check me out!”

 

“Nick get out right now!” Alicia declared sternly, embracing her inner Madison. “You're going to get yourself, or someone else hurt.”

 

Nick rolled his eyes, “fine mom!” He jumped out of the trolley and sprinted back toward his friends. “Killjoy!” He stuck his tongue out at his younger sister.

 

“Come on guys, let's get shopping.” Ofelia fetched the trolley that Nick had been playing with, dumped her handbag inside, and began to push it toward the automatic doors.

 

“Where are we going first?” Alicia asked as she eyed the list.

 

Nick glanced around, they were all in the produce section. “I think we should grab some limes, for the Coronas maybe.”

 

“What about some strawberries for the champagne?” Luciana added.

 

Ofelia glanced over curiously, “who said anything about champagne?”

 

“I thought we had Maddie’s credit card, I'm sure she wouldn't mind if we bought a bottle.”

 

Whilst Luciana and Nick went to fetch the fruit Alicia turned to Ofelia. “So you think we should put our costumes on as soon as we get home?”

 

“Yeah, mine is all sorted.” Ofelia replied with a smile. Considering that they were both huge Supernatural fans, the girls had decided to go as Dean and Castiel. Alicia was going as Cas, she was borrowing her mother's long beige trench coat, and was wearing that as well as a white button down shirt, some black trousers and a blue tie. 

 

“Mine too, you think anyone is going to know who we are?”

 

Ofelia tapped her salmon shellac nails against the trolley handle, “I suppose, SPN’s pretty big in the US so I'm sure fellow Destiel shippers shall coo over our eternal cuteness!”

 

Alicia rolled her eyes, “Serious ‘Felia?”

 

“Yep, dead serious Leeshy!”

 

X-X-X-X

 

“Damn, cold, cold damn,” Nick tossed a pack of frozen spring rolls into the trolley. “Call the police and the fireman.”

 

Alicia grimaced and Luciana facepalmed. He was just so immature. “A plus reference there, Nick!” Ofelia said with a grin.

 

“At least someone appreciates me,” the boy replied as he slung an arm around the brunette’s shoulders.

 

“What's generic shit ice cream?” Luciana queried as she looked up from the list.

 

“This stuff,” Alicia slip open a freezer and scooped out a tub of two dollar ice cream, “it costs like next to nothing and mom likes it for some bizarre reason.”

 

“Your mom is odd,” the Mexican girl peered at the flavours. “But I do like both Mint Chocolate and Boysenberry so I want to try some.”

 

“Leesha, do we want oven fries or tater tots?” Nick called from across the frozen foods section. 

 

“I dunno,” she sprinted toward her brother. “What would everyone like?”

 

The vote was unanimous and everyone agreed upon tater tots.

 

X-X-X-X

 

“So ladies, what type of soda does everyone want?” Nick queried. He was in charge of pushing the trolley after all the girls got sick of telling him off for playing with all of the stock.

 

“Well Coke, I suppose, and maybe a Sprite, some Dr Pepper and a Diet Coke?” Alicia proceeded in pulling the items from the shelf and lining them up in the trolley.

 

“I'll just grab some salt and vinegar crisps,” Ofelia added. “What flavours do you guys like?”

 

“Original!” Nick declared enthusiastically. He sprung up from his position and attempted to grab at a packet from the top shelf but managed to bring a pile of other chips down with it. 

 

“Whoops…” Nick stammered as he regained his balance and glanced at the mess.

 

A small girl, who was also standing in the aisle, began to laugh. 

 

Nick grinned at her and waved, “am I funny, huh?” 

 

Luciana glanced at her boyfriend and smiled affectionately. He loved kids, even during his time as an addict, she'd been told he'd always been good around children. He had a certain way with them, maybe it was because he was a kid at heart himself. She knew that he desperately wanted his own, and someday she hoped to be able to give that to give him that. He was a good man, they'd met at Citrus Community College earlier that year. They were both only just starting, despite her being about five years older than him. She was an immigrant from Mexico, which is where she was born and raised, and she had decided to move to the US post the death of her parents and brother in an accident. She had a new family here in this country though, and she was immensely grateful that she had that chance.

 

“Luciana we asked if you wanted any chips.” Suddenly realising that she had gotten lost in her thoughts Luciana glanced up to see Alicia staring at her. 

 

She shook her, “no thanks, I'll just have whatever you're having.”

 

“Awesome, we’re all sorted here then. Let's get to the next aisle.” 

 

X-X-X-X

 

They darted in and out the rest of the aisles relatively quickly, only stopping to pick up an issue of Vogue for Alicia and Cosmopolitan for Ofelia, before they made it to the Halloween aisle.

 

“So what type of candy do we want for the neighbourhood kids?” Ofelia asked.

 

“Candy eyeballs and candy brains and candy ears and…”

 

“Just buy the goddamn candy body parts!” Luciana declared, cutting Nick off.

 

Alicia shrugged, “I also think we need some chocolate, mostly because I always loved getting chocolate when I went trick or treating when I was young.” 

 

“Yeah and when she didn't get any chocolate she'd just steal all of mine.”

 

Ofelia grinned, “you guys are honestly sibling goals. I sometimes wish that I had a brother of a sister.”

 

“No you don't!” Both Clark kids flashed an equally disgusted look and Ofelia laughed.

 

X-X-X-X

 

“TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY SEVEN DOLLARS FIFTY!” Nick Clark exclaimed. “What did we buy? Freaking gold bars?”

 

The girls were in the process of moving the shopping from the trolley into the trunk of the Camry while Nick stared, dumbfounded, at the shopping receipt.

 

“We did buy a heap of stuff,” Ofelia slammed the trunk shut. “Only a couple more bags and we wouldn't even be able to fit the liquor inside.”

 

They began to walk toward the liquor store that was located in a building adjacent to the supermarket. 

 

“I know that but it was almost two hundred and fifty dollars, mom's going to flip her lid.”

 

“Well we needed practically everything we bought,” Ofelia murmured. She chose to exclude the makeup and CDs that they'd thrown into the trolley.

 

“As long as we don't forget the alcohol, she won't even notice.” Alicia replied. She loved her mother immensely but as of lately she'd been a little off. It wasn't just that she appeared sad or smelt of liquor sometimes, it was more the fact that Travis was being ultra protective of her. She'd asked her if she was okay numerous times and the reply was always the same, a swift subject change. She was going to talk to Travis about it the next time they had a driving lesson.

 

“Yeah I suppose,” Nick replied absentmindedly. “Let's grab the drinks though.”

 

They all split up and ran in different directions. Alicia grabbed some white wines, Nick was on beer duty, Ofelia went to fetch the reds and Luciana chose a Scotch and a champagne.

 

“I'll pay,” Ofelia announced as she grabbed Madison’s card from Alicia and removed her license from her purse.

 

The cashier scanned all of the bottles, “big party tonight?”

 

“Yep,” she replied with a grin. “We have a bit a costume party thing going on.”

 

“Have fun,” the man smiled as he put all of their bottles into cardboard boxes. “Don't drink too much.”

 

“We won't.”

 

They pushed the trolley back toward the car and Ofelia turned to Alicia. “So that's done, we better hurry up and get home, do you think your mom and Travis have gotten anything done yet?”

 

The younger brunette shrugged, “I doubt it, they probably got sidetracked and they're doing other stuff.”

 

Nick snickered, “they're more likely doing each other.”

 

“Eww! Gross Nick!” Alicia shook her head.

 

“Probably true though!”

 

“I honestly don't even want to know!” Ofelia declared as she climbed into the driver’s seat. She slid her hand over the console and flipped the radio on. 

 

“Twenty One Pilots!” Nick declared happily and began an out of tune rendition of ‘Tear in my Heart’.

 

The females all rolled their eyes and pretended to be embarrassed but before long they were belting out the tune equally as loud.

 

“You fell asleep in my car I drove the whole time, but that’s okay I’ll just avoid the holes so you sleep fine.”

 

Nick tapped his iPhone and turned the selfie camera on, mostly because he wanted to film the singing and embarrass his sister later.

 

“I’m driving here I sit,” they progressively grew louder and by the end of the sentence they were practically screaming.

 

“Cursing my government for not using my taxes to fill holes with more cement!”

 

They began to laugh and all looked at each other. This was officially the life.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

 

“Mom, Travis, we’re home!”

 

“Shit!” At the sound of her teenage daughter’s voice Madison Clark sprung up off of the couch. She pulled her jeans up her thighs and did them up quickly before she realised that her shirt was hanging open revealing her lacy black bra. She fastened her shirt buttons and turned to her partner, who was still laying on his back, on the sofa. “I thought they were going to be at least another half hour.”

 

Travis zipped up his fly before he began to battle with his shirt buttons. “It's fine, Strand and Thomas will be here soon anyway and I don't think we really want them to show up while we’re still half naked and involved in some quick sex session on the sofa.”

 

“Always the reasonable one, Travis Manawa.” Madison leaned forward and pressed her lips against her partner’s forehead. “I'm just gonna see if the kids need any help.”

 

“Alright, I'm coming.”

 

The blonde made her way into the entrance hall where she found Alicia, Luciana and Ofelia clutching two bags a piece, while Nick had about five bags awkwardly stacked. 

 

“Goddamn it Nick, you look like you're about to kill yourself.” Maddie grabbed three bags from her son. “How much shit did you guys buy?”

 

“Too much,” Ofelia laughed.

 

“And all these bottles weigh a ton!” Luciana grimaced before Travis grabbed the bags off of her.

 

“Let's just bring these to the kitchen,” he began. “Maddie and I can get them unpacked while you all put your costumes on.”

 

“Okay Travis,” Nick grinned. “And nice wig Mom, very chic and sleek.”

 

Alicia laughed, “yeah you two, your costumes look great. Mom you're the cop from that movie right? And I have no idea who Travis is though.”

 

Travis rolled his eyes, “Rick Grimes, ever heard of him?”

 

“Ohhh,” Alicia looked sheepish. “That's why you have all the fake blood and like half an eyeliner beard.”

 

“Half?”

 

“Yeah, the rest seems to be smeared on mom’s face.”

 

X-X-X-X

 

Costume Time - Alicia and Ofelia

 

“So costumes first and then make up?” Alicia queried as she pulled her converses off. They'd escaped the loud mess of shopping bags in the kitchen in order to finally get changed.

 

Ofelia nodded as she pulled off her jeans. She replaced them swiftly with another lot of jeans, although this pair was splattered with fake blood. “That's what I'm doing at least. We don't need crazy makeup or anything, we are supposed to be pretending to be guys.”

 

Alicia slipped her singlet over her head before she began to button up a white shirt. “This is giving me all the mom vibes and I'm honestly not a fan.”

 

“You look business chic,” Ofelia retorted with a raised eyebrow. 

 

“Throw me that Trench, ‘Felia.”

 

The taller brunette tossed a long beige trench coat at her friend. “Leeshy you're gonna look like a baby in a trenchcoat!”

 

“Shut up you assbutt!” Alicia rolled her eyes.

 

Ofelia began to laugh.

 

“Come on, let's get our makeup on.” Alicia pushed her way through a heap of clothes strewn over the ground of her room in order to get to her dressing table. “There is stuff everywhere,” she mused as she pushed some cosmetics aside.

 

“What does your mom think of this mess?” Ofelia queried as she squeezed herself onto the desk chair beside her friend. “Scooch over,” she instructed promptly. 

 

“Mom doesn't really care, have you seen her room? But Travis on the other hand is like such a neat freak that it drives Nick and I crazy.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah, the man irons underwear and towels for god sake!”

 

Ofelia picked up a eyeliner pencil and began working it neatly around the edge of her eyelid. “I'm thinking we do our eyes simply and do tan coloured lips or something?”

 

“Yeah, I can't see Dean and Cas doing anything too out there.” Alicia replied as she ran the beige-y pink coloured point over her lips. “We still doing the blood thing?”

 

“Hell yeah, we can be Dean and Cas post that fight scene at the Bunker. Leesha can you pass me that lipstick?”

 

“Yep, here. I'm going to start on the blood.”

 

“Great!”

 

Alicia began to smear the tip of a dark red lipstick up her cheek, imitating a cut. She then began to blend it with a darker shade of red. “How does this look?”

 

Ofelia glanced at her best friend and quickly flashed her a thumbs up. “Freaking awesome, can you do one on my cheek?”

 

The Clark girl grinned and picked up a lipstick, “sure!”

 

X-X-X-X

 

Costume Time - Nick and Luciana 

 

A sharp whistle rang out across the bedroom and Nick turned to his girlfriend. “You're still making that stupid Hunger Games noise? Seriously Luci?”

 

“Well I am the Mockingjay!” Luciana grinned, she was dressed in a black jacket, some jeans, a camisole and her long black hair was pulled into a plait. In Nick’s opinion she was more beautiful than Jennifer Lawrence. 

 

“And I've been hearing about it all day,” Nick grinned. “You look pretty awesome!”

 

“Thanks,” Luciana grinned and examined her boyfriend. He was dressed in a pair of torn jeans and was wearing no shirt. A smearing of fake blood spread across his non existent abs and a flower crown was positioned on his head, smooshing down his ratty hair. “But I still don't get your costume.”

 

“I'm a bloody yet aesthetic zombie with a Tumblr worthy flower crown!”

 

“Of course you are.”

 

“Hashtag no filter!” Nick declared as he bounded up behind his girlfriend before he proceeded in scooping her up.

 

“Hey you're getting that fake blood all over me!”

 

“You honestly don't mind!” He began kissing her face and nuzzling his nose against her.

 

“Nick,” Luciana began to laugh and attempted to push her man away. “Seriously.”

 

“But you taste so good.” He threw her down onto the bed. His flower crown began to tumble off of his head and the pair broke down into peals of laughter.

 

“Hey, you two, what's so funny?” Alicia’s voice called out from behind the closed door. She banged her fist, knocking loudly, “Strand and Thomas are gonna be here soon!”

 

“Go away Leesha, can't you leave your big brother alone for one minute?”

 

“Mom's getting pissed, she wants your help with something.”

 

“Fine,” Nick stood up and grinned at Luciana. “More of that tonight.”

 

“As long as the fake blood’s gone.”

 

“It will be,” he pecked his girlfriend on the nose. “Leesh, tell mom I'm coming.”

 

X-X-X-X

 

Madison Clark grinned at her boyfriend, “you want a beer babe?” she queried. They just finished unpacking the shopping and they were both still in the kitchen.

 

“Only if you're having one,” he replied with a smile.

 

“Well, duh! When do I not have one?” She flung the fridge open and grabbed both herself and her partner an ice cold bottle.

 

“Do you think Strand and Thomas have seen the Walking Dead premiere yet?” Travis asked after he took a sip of his drink. 

 

“Yeah, Victor tweeted about it this morning.” She'd watched the premiere about a week earlier with Travis, her kids, Ofelia, and Luciana. All five of them had cried, bawled to be more accurate, as Negan killed a couple of fan favourites. Sure, it'd been a sad scene, but honestly she had bigger concerns than what character got a baseball bat to their brains. Her boyfriend, a self proclaimed softie, had nuzzled his face into her cotton camisole covered chest in an attempt to shield himself from the scene while Luciana had cuddled against Nick and Alicia and Ofelia were both squeezing couch cushions. She'd seen Travis cry over many things over the duration of their relationship, most of them being immensely trivial, such as the death of a character in a book, movie or show, but she still remembered the first time she'd seen him cry real tears. It'd been after she had first told him about the abuse, both physical and emotional, she had suffered at the hands of her father and her late husband. She'd never told anyone else in her entire life, and it felt great to finally let it out, but she could never have anticipated his response. He had begun to sob and he had whispered that he wished he could have been there, that he was sorry he couldn't have protected her and that no one is ever going to be able to hurt her again. She knew that she was severely screwed up, to put it kindly, and that she was going to be hurt again but the fact that he cared so much touched her heart. He was a wonderful man, a man too wonderful for a woman like her.

 

“Great, we’ll have to discuss it, he probably cried too.”

 

Maddie shook her head, “I doubt it, he's not a big crybaby like someone I know.”

 

Travis shrugged, “say what you want, at least I'm not as cold as you.”

 

The blonde laughed before she quickly shook her head. He knew that she was cold for a reason.

 

“Mom, what do you want me to do?” Nick approached her. 

 

“Maybe put some clothes on for starters, I'm sure no one wants to see your nipples.”

 

“Hey,” Nick laughed, “I'm sure Luci will beg to differ.”

 

“Well that's her, but I'm sure Travis, Ofelia, Alicia and myself don't need to see that.” She paused and sipped her drink, “I was actually wonderin’ if you'd go out the front and hang up some of those decorations in the box over there, we need the kids to know that we have all that candy crap.”

 

The lanky teenager grinned, “sure mom, I'll just see if anyone wants to help.” He glanced toward the couch where all three girls were lounging around, fully dressed in their costumes, “guys, anyone wanna help with the decorations?”

 

“Sure,” Ofelia stood up.

 

“I'm sorta busy Nick,” Alicia was tapping rapidly against her phone screen.

 

“That's fine, Ofelia and I can help him.” Luciana grinned at the younger girl before she followed her boyfriend out of the room.

 

“Whatcha doin’ Leesha?” Maddie queried from the kitchen.

 

“Just updating Ofelia and my beauty blog.” As it turned out, Alicia and Ofelia were quite Tumblr famous. They had a blog called ‘Palettes and Polaroids’ where they documented both their personal and makeup related exploits. They had earned a little following and even had shippers, it had been quite the experience. Nick, on the other hand, seemed to be getting quite popular on Musical.ly, which was where he filmed himself, primarily with no shirt on, lip syncing to Justin Bieber. The girls all mocked him, claiming that his fan base consisted solely of twelve year old girls with terrible taste in men, who had developed a crush on him.

 

“I still don't get all this blog stuff, Twitter’s one thing but Tumblr and Nick’s shirtless crap, I'm too old.” Maddie grinned, she was quite the Tweeter, although most of her tweets were rather filled with profanities.

 

X-X-X-X

 

“Eeeww, get that off of me!” Ofelia exclaimed as she jumped backwards, letting a fake spider tumble off of her. She rolled her eyes at Nick, who was busy laughing to himself, “you know that I can't stand spiders!”

 

“Eeeww! I'm Ofelia, I'm so terrified of plastic!” Nick bounced around in a poor imitation of his friend.

 

“Shut your cakehole!” Ofelia exclaimed with a laugh as she tossed a clump of fake spiderwebs at him. “I don't sound like that anyway, moron!”

 

“Nick, how about you help me hang up some of these skeletons?” Luciana interjected. “I'm too short.”

 

“You want me to boost you up?” The brunette nodded and Nick hoisted her awkwardly onto his shoulders. “Better?”

 

“Yeah, thanks.”

 

“Guys, I think Strand and Thomas are here.” Ofelia announced. A black Mercedes drove down the street before it reversed into their driveway. 

 

Nick lent down so that Luciana could hop off of his shoulders and he glanced toward the car, “yeah that's them.” 

 

The trio began to wave as the brake lights turned off and the driver’s door opened. “Greetings!” Victor Strand began in his rich, expressive voice. He was dressed in a neatly pressed suit with a toy handgun in his hand and he had a wide grin on his face. “How lovely to see you three and Happy Halloween.”

 

Nick approached the car, “want me to grab mom? She's just inside.”

 

“No that's fine Nicholas, Tom is taking forever to get out of the car.” Strand walked around the car and tapped on the passenger window.

 

The door clicked open and Thomas Abigail climbed out, “ever the impatient one Victor,” he laughed before he turned toward the trio. “Happy Halloween Nick, Luciana, Ofelia,” he paused and glanced around. “Where's Alicia?”

 

“She's just inside with mom and Travis,” Nick grinned. “Awesome costume Strand, you're James Bond right?”

 

Victor chuckled, “yep, thank you for the compliment although, I must admit, that I have have absolutely no clue who - or what - you're supposed to be.”

 

“I'm a shirtless, bloody, aesthetic, flower crown zombie.”

 

“Of course you are,” Strand rolled his eyes. “And would you three help Thomas and myself carry some things from the trunk?”

 

They all nodded and Strand began to load them all up with containers and bags. The pair had brought all of the fixings for some Halloween inspired cocktails as well as some baked goods. 

 

“How much stuff did you bring man?” Nick mused as he attempted to steady himself under the weight of all the snacks.

 

“Victor and I were up all night making these cake pops,” Thomas motioned to a container on Luciana’s pile. “I think he gets a bit too excited during this time of the year.”

 

Strand grinned at his boyfriend, “it is Halloween, and I suppose I'm a little bit hooked on cake pops at the moment.”

 

Thomas shook his head, “we know!”

 

X-X-X-X

 

“Victor!” Maddie declared as she ran toward her best friend. She threw her arms around him and embraced him tightly.

 

“Madison, lovely to see you.” He release the blonde and grinned, “it's been forever.”

 

“I know,” she nodded. In actual fact, it had probably only been about a week, but neither of them realised it. Maddie had met Victor at a hotel bar about ten years earlier. It was late one night and, despite her intention for it to be a romantic getaway with Stephen, he had locked himself in the bedroom to do some work. They'd had an argument, and he'd become unpredictable so she'd let herself out in search for a drink. That was the highlight of being an alcoholic, she knew that there was an escape just within her reach.

 

She'd been bleary eyed and at the bottom of her third or fourth glass of stiff tequila when a man had joined her at the bar. He'd bought her a drink and they'd gotten talking. He'd attempted to chat her up and when it didn't work he ended up admitting that he was actually gay and that his boyfriend was currently in Mexico. They'd soon struck up conversation and she'd ended up telling him all about her attempted romantic getaway. She'd laughed more in the four hours by the bar than she had over her entire marriage and they'd exchanged numbers. Victor had made her feel good about herself, he'd complimented her and told her that she was beautiful and smart. 

 

“So Thomas and I have brought some nibbles for the party and I come bearing alcohol.”

 

Maddie grinned, “oh God bless America,” she laughed. “Bring out the liquor!”

 

“Well I'm going to have to get you to think back to those Alabama bartending days Ms Clark because I'm going to need help with these cocktails.”

 

“I think I can manage that,” she peered into a reusable shopping bag. It was filled with a heap of bottles, all containing different types of liquor, as well as some juices, and other non alcoholic drinks. 

 

“Well good because I need some help unloading these bags.”

 

“Yeah, sure,” she laughed, her southern accent strong. “What are these fancy Halloween cocktails you were telling me about anyway?”

 

Victor pulled his iPhone out of his blazer pocket and tapped on the home button before he keyed in his passcode. He then scrolled through his home screens before he opened the camera roll. “See these are just some recipes,” he slid through the photos in an album marked ‘Halloween Drinks for Madison’s Party’. “We’re making ‘Bloody Brain Shooters’, ‘Pumpkin Spice Punch’, ‘Bloody Orange Cocktails’ and ‘Zombie Slime Shooters’, among other things.”

 

Maddie began to laugh, “dammit Victor, you really do do your research. When I said ‘bring some drinks’ I meant like a bottle of Scotch or Tequila, not high class cocktails.”

 

“You can go big or go home,” he paused. “And Madison, we really need to get your guests drunk in style.”


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

 

“When you said you wanted to get set up by the door I honestly didn't expect this,” Alicia laughed as she glanced at her older brother. Nick, with the unsuspecting help of the three females, had constructed a blanket fort out of chairs, couch cushions and an old blanket. He'd placed a couple of pumpkins that they had carved earlier around the entrance and all the bowls of candy inside.

 

“Well now when the trick or treaters come we can open the door and they can see a big Halloween fort and it'll be awesome.”

 

“No, I think they'll be more like ‘ha, ha, four young adults are squished under some blankets with candy’.” Ofelia retorted with a roll of her eyes.

 

“I think it's actually sort of cute,” Luciana laughed. “And at least we won't miss any kids.”

 

“I suppose it’ll be sorta fun and, then again, Nick and I haven't built a fort since we were kids.”

 

“You three just gonna stand there or are you coming in?” Nick popped his head out from the fort and the three girls bent down and climbed under. 

 

If they couldn't beat him, they were better off joining him.

 

X-X-X-X

 

“Why are there no kids yet?” Nick complained about five minutes later. Ofelia was scrolling through her Instagram, Alicia was updating the blog again and Luciana was gnawing at a chocolate bar. “And Luci, we’re supposed to save those for the trick or treaters.”

 

“Maybe it's a bit early,” Alicia mused.

 

“Or there mightn't be many kids around at the moment,” Ofelia added.

 

“Yeah,” Nick sighed.

 

“Stop being impatient, Nick.” Luciana pressed her lips to his nose, “they'll come when they come.”

 

A sudden knock at the door caught the kids off guard and Nick sprung up eagerly. He threw the front door open and grinned. Standing on the doorstep was Gladys Cruz, the Clark’s neighbors from across the street, and her mother.

 

“Nick!” She exclaimed with a smile, “Trick or Treat!”

 

“Hey, you look like a pretty scary black cat! Would you rather candy or chocolates?” he queried. 

 

“Candy!”

 

“Well okay then,” Nick turned around and glanced into the fort, “can someone pass me the candy bowl?”

 

“You mean the one that Ofelia has eaten half of?” Alicia snickered.

 

“Hey!” Ofelia defended, through a mouthful of sweets. “Luciana isn't leaving much chocolate behind.”

 

Nick grinned, “can you guys just pass me the bowl already?” After eventually gaining the candy, he turned back to Gladys. “Sorry about the wait, sisters, girlfriends and friends are so annoying.”

 

A chorus of “hey”s echoed from beneath the blanket.

 

The little girl giggled and scooped up a handful of candy body parts. “Thanks Nick!” She waved at him before she glanced into the fort, “and thanks Alicia and Nick’s friends.”

 

The girls all grinned and said goodbye before Nick pulled the door closed. “One satisfied customer I suppose,” he sat himself down on a cushion beside Luciana. 

 

Alicia shook a bowl quickly, “guys I think we need to make a rule stating that we will not eat any candy until later tonight, at our rate of consumption there'll be nothing left in half an hour.”

 

“But I'm starving!” Ofelia cried, sounding overly melodramatic.

 

“How about we go see if the adults have any food?” Luciana suggested.

 

“Okay, Luci and I'll go, but Nick and Alicia you need to guard the door and feed the kids.”

 

“But I'm hungry too!” Nick stood up.

 

“Fine, I'll stay here, but I get to offer candy to anyone who shows up while you're gone.” Alicia paused, “and from the sound of her laughter, I think mom’s drunk as hell and drunk mom is the most annoying thing ever.”

 

That was something they all agreed upon.

 

X-X-X-X

 

“So what do we want? Babe, Thomas, Victor? Bloody Brain Shooters?” Maddie queried from the kitchen bench. Herself and Strand had arranged it to look like a bar, all the liquor was lined on one side and the non alcoholic beverages on the other. The faint smell of party pies, sausage rolls, dim sims and spring rolls wafted around the kitchen. Victor had just finished lining up cocktail glasses while Madison has airdropped the recipes to her iPad so they were easier to see.

 

Travis and Thomas were both seated at the table. They both affectionately watched their significant other run around the kitchen with smiles on their faces. Travis liked seeing Maddie like this, carefree, filled with life and happy. He knew that she'd endured a lot, and understood why she usually looked so stoic, but he also liked to see her let her hair down once in awhile. She got along marvellously with Strand and the other man brought out the best in her while he also offered no competition. Victor was already in a stable relationship, and along with the fact that he was gay, ensured he never looked at Maddie like he was anything other than her friend.

 

“What's a Bloody Brain Shooter?” Thomas queried as he approached the bench.

 

“Chilled vodka and lime juice in a glass. We then drip some cream and it curdles, because of the acidity of the lime juice, to make it look like there's floatin’ brain chunks.” Maddie replied with a grin.

 

Thomas made a face. “That sounds disgusting, but why not? I'll take one.”

 

“And you want one babe?” the blonde called over to her boyfriend.

 

“Okay Angel, I'll try it.”

 

“Four Bloody Brain Shooters coming up,” Maddie grinned and began to pour the vodka. She'd always enjoyed pouring drinks, it was satisfying to create the perfect blend, to mix a cocktail. She hadn't loved her first job in general, mainly because of all of the old pervs trying to peer down her blouse, but she had loved making the drinks. She added the cream and found herself smiling. They looked amazing.

 

X-X-X-X

 

“What ever are you three drinking?” Alicia queried as her brother and friends returned to the fort. She'd greeted about seven kids over the past fifteen minutes and she had to already break out the emergency candy refills.

 

“It's called a ‘Morgue-a-Rita’,” Nick replied. “It's like a margarita except it has like a fake green smile thing around the rim of the glass and supposably has a Halloween twist.”

 

“It also looks Aesthetic AF!” Ofelia grinned, “check it Leeshy, your mom makes a mean cocktail and we need a photo for our blog.”

 

Alicia nodded and whipped out her phone, “most definitely.” She snapped a photo and turned to her brother, “is mom tipsy yet?”

 

Nick chuckled, “she did make me the drink, I suppose that'll answer your question.” Nick was nineteen, meaning that technically he couldn't drink for two more years, and Maddie was oddly strict when it came to that.

 

“Well yeah, that makes sense.” 

 

“Have many kids come?” Luciana sipped her drink.

 

“A few, I think things are picking up now though.” Alicia replied.

 

As if on cue, the doorbell sounded. Ofelia stood up, “I'll get it.”

 

“Trick or Treat!” A trio of kids cried. They looked about eleven or twelve and they had wide smiles on their faces.

 

“Hey guys,” the brunette beamed. “You three want candy?”

 

“Yeah,” the tallest, a girl dressed like Harley Quinn, replied.

 

Ofelia held out the bowl. “One each,” she instructed.

 

They each took a candy bar before they hurried off down the street.

 

“I think that was the fifth Harley Quinn I've seen this evening,” Alicia decided.

 

“Yeah, all the kids are really over doing it,” Nick replied.

 

Luciana nodded, “I heard that the shirts were sold out everywhere.”

 

“Seriously? I haven't even seen it.” Ofelia rested her chin on her knees.

 

“Nick took me to the cinema to see it and Alicia tagged along, she said you were busy or something.” Luciana recalled.

 

“Yeah I think I had to help my dad with something at his shop.”

 

Another knock sounded.

 

“It's my turn,” Luciana jumped up, bowl in hand.

 

X-X-X-X

 

“How's my expert bartending girlfriend going?” Travis approached his partner from behind and engulfed her in a quick hug.

 

“Great babe, have you been enjoying my creations.” She nestled her body back against his chest.

 

He knew that she was slightly drunk but he didn't mind as much considering that this was happy drunk. She got happy drunk if there was other people around and when she got this way she'd come out of her shell and become a bit more loud and exuberant. It was only when she got really drunk that he got worried. She went dark, dim and sad and all her innermost thoughts would come out. She was good at handling her alcohol, extremely good, and she could choose which drunk she needed to be. She was an alcoholic, she was very good at lying.

 

“They've been wonderful,” the English teacher replied as her nestled his face against her wig. It was nowhere near as soft as her real hair and smelt like cheap plastic. “I'm about to get some food out of the oven, Strand brought a pie and it smells lovely.”

 

“Alright, you want my help?” Maddie began to clear away some of the bottles and glasses to make room for the food.

 

“Yeah, Angel, that'd be great.” He gave her one last squeeze before he walked across the kitchen. Travis was the cook in the family, before him, and after Stephen, the kids would eat microwave meals every dinner, while Maddie would down a bottle of something instead. When he moved in, she became aware of his cooking skills, and suddenly they had family dinners.

 

The duo began lining up plates on the countertop. Spring rolls, dim sims, little pies and pasties and the pumpkin shaped potato pie Strand had bought, made up for the majority of the meal.

 

Maddie dried her hands on her trousers and hurried into the hall. “Leesha, Nick, Ofelia, Luciana, food’s ready!”

 

She watched as the four of them clambered out of a makeshift fort they appeared to have created and hurried toward her.

 

“Thanks Maddie, I'm starving.” Ofelia laughed.

 

Alicia grinned at her mother. “Yeah mom, and I'm sick of eating candy.”

 

“The Morgue-A-Rita was amazing Maddie,” Luciana grinned at her future mother in law happily.

 

Madison nodded and ushered them into the other room, she was about just as eager for dinner as they were.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

 

“I haven't had the opportunity to complement you three on your costumes.” Strand mused with a laugh as he sipped an orange cocktail and glanced across the table at the three girls. “I love the Dean Castiel duo thing that you two have going on,” he announced as he motioned toward Ofelia and Alicia. “And Luciana, Hunger Games, great choice.”

 

She chuckled, “yeah Nick made fun of me, saying that Hunger Games was so two years ago but I only just got around to reading them earlier this year and I just binge watched them with the guys.” 

 

“Nick can't say anything, he's dressed as a shirtless zombie, honestly, his opinion is invalid!”

 

Alicia cracked up laughing and pointed at her older brother, “hear that?”

 

“Well I was going to dress up as a pill bottle but you and mom both thought that that would be in bad taste.”

 

Maddie rose an eyebrow, “Nick Clark, I'm standing by my opinion on that one.” 

 

Strand turned to Travis, “and I'm sorry Travis but I wouldn't have picked Rick Grimes for your costume.”

 

“How come no one knows who I am?” Travis sighed in mock exasperation. 

 

“You have nothing really obvious about your costume, maybe if you'd gone in the sheriff’s uniform from season one.”

 

“That's what I wanted to do, but someone said that they thought rugged Rick was hotter,” he poked Maddie softly.

 

“Objection, I didn't dictate your fricken costume, I just said you'd get more action if you wore the latter.”

 

Ofelia grinned, “you totally dictated that one.”

 

“Maddie, you must teach me your ways. I wanted a Nick to go as Gale but he insisted on shirtlessness.” Luciana rolled her eyes.

 

“Honey, you're a part of this family now and I promise I will teach you everything that I know.”

 

Alicia turned to Thomas, suddenly realising his lack of costume, “what about you Thomas? Why aren't you dressed up?”

 

“Well, both Victor and I wanted to go as James Bond so we made a bet on who Negan would kill. I chose Eugene and Maggie while Victor chose Abraham and Glenn and, obviously, I lost.”

 

“Don't be such a drama queen,” Strand exclaimed. “I won fair and square.”

 

“Sure you did…” Thomas shook his head and elbowed his boyfriend disgruntledly.

 

X-X-X-X

 

“Do you think it's too late for anymore kids?” Alicia asked the others as she peered down at her phone.

 

“It's only eight-thirty but there probably won't be that many younger ones still out.” Ofelia replied. 

 

“And we have like three candy bars left.” Luciana leaned back against Nick.

 

Nick glanced at them, “how about we go around and Trick-or-Treat ourselves?”

 

“Aren't we kind of old?” Ofelia rose an eyebrow at the other boy.

 

“Well yeah, but we can just pretend we’re like all sixteen.”

 

Alicia chortled, “I can't believe you're even considering this, mom will flip.”

 

“Mom's had a few too many, she's oblivious and I think it'll be fun. We're never too old for fun, right?”

 

Ofelia shrugged, “I suppose it can't hurt, all the little kids have come and gone already anyway.”

 

Alicia rolled her eyes, “Luciana please say you're backing me on this one.”

 

“Sorry Alicia, but I've always wanted to go trick-or-treating.”

 

“Wait, what?” Nick glanced at his girlfriend, concern filling his eyes. “So you're telling me that you've never been trick or treating?”

 

“Yeah,” she looked at him strangely. “It's not too much of a big deal, is it?”

 

“Not that much of a big deal? It's huge. I feel obliged now, it's in my boyfriend-ly duty to take you trick-or-treating.” He paused and stood up, “come on girls, grab your shoes, we’re going trick-or-treating.”

 

X-X-X-X

 

A good fifteen minutes later, they were off. The looked quite odd strolling down the cracked concrete sidewalk dressed in their costumes. They were planning on just wandering around El Sereno, the suburb where the Clarks lived, for a little while.

 

“So we just knock on random people's doors?” Luciana queried.

 

“Pretty much,” Alicia grinned. “Why don't we go there first?”

 

They turned toward a house that was decorated with fake cobwebs and pumpkins. “Okay, let's do it.” Ofelia grinned.

 

Nick pressed the doorbell and a ringing sounded. “Hi!” A young girl greeted the four young adults happily.

 

“Trick or treat,” they all announced and the child’s grin grew.

 

“Do you guys want candy?” 

 

“Yes please, sweetie.” Alicia smiled happily.

 

“Well you can all have two each because you all are nice and have good costumes.”

 

“Even me?” Nick asked.

 

The girl began to giggle, “well you look a bit silly.”

 

The boy smiled warmly, “my friends all think that as well.

 

They left the house and continued along the street. Alicia turned to Ofelia, “can I just grab a quick selfie for the blog?”

 

“Sure,” the taller brunette leaned down slightly so that was level with her shorter friend and grinned into the camera. Just as Alicia went to snap the photo Nick nudged himself into the shot before he pulled Luciana in beside him. The flash sounded and they all smiled cheesily. It was a great photo.

 

X-X-X-X

 

1:49am - November 1

 

“Come ‘ere babe!” Maddie murmured softly in her Southern accent as she edged toward her partner. “Tonight was fun.”

 

Strand and Thomas had left about twenty minutes earlier and the kids had returned from trick-or-treating a good three hours ago. They had quickly attempted at cleaning up the mess and had turned the dishwasher on before they had retreated to the bedroom, finally, for some alone time. 

 

“It was,” he paused and nuzzled his face against her chest. “And you're like a master when it comes to cocktails.”

 

She slid her hands under his shirt and ran her fingers over his soft stomach and chest. “You, on the other hand, are amazing when it comes to heating up frozen party snacks.”

 

He chuckled, “I've always wanted an attractive woman to tell me that.”

 

“Attractive huh? I've always wanted a man like yourself to complement me.” She began unbuttoning his shirt and swiftly pulled it off of his shoulders. “Now...I…finally...get...to...do...my...very...own...chocolate...coloured...Rick...Grimes.” Between words she pressed her lips against him, slowly travelling up his stomach, over his chest, under his chin and against his mouth. She slipped her tongue in and felt it battle against his. She pulled back, biting his lip, and felt a smile spread across her face.

 

“I suppose I get to find out if how Detective Rhonda Boney fares between the sheets is anywhere near as kick ass as she does in the streets.” He pressed his lips against hers again, she tasted of liquor, which was quite usual, so he honestly didn't mind. 

 

“I suppose you do,” she worked his jeans down his legs and ran her hand over his inner thigh. She felt him undo the buttons on her shirt, before he removed it, and began to unclasp her bra. He pressed his lips, hungrily, against her bare breasts. 

 

She moaned softly and stroked the bulge in his Calvin Kleins before she worked them down his legs. He discarded her jeans, then her briefs and she grinned at him happily, contentedly, lovingly.

 

He slipped into her slowly and trusted forward gently. She matted her fingers in his thick, black hair and skirted her lips over the soft brown flesh of chest. “Happy Halloween,” she whispered to him softly, between moans. 

 

Travis nibbled softly at the nape of her neck, breathing in the soft scent of her hair, “Happy Halloween to you too, Angel.”

 

X-X-X-X

 

1:53am - November 1

 

“Time for Halloween specials!” Nick exclaimed as he bounced down onto the couch. Once against the four people had managed to squeeze onto the couch and they were all peering expectantly at the TV. 

 

The boy flicked the power button on and the screen lit up. He scrolled down the applications menu and tapped on ‘Netflix’, letting the logo fill the monitor. 

 

“What are we watching first?” Alicia asked, some chocolate still in her mouth.

 

“Maybe all the How I Met Your Mother Halloween episodes first and then Friends?” Ofelia suggested.

 

“And we can't forget Modern Family,” Nick added quickly.

 

Luciana shrugged, “I'll watch whatever you guys like.”

 

Alicia grinned, “and after, we need to catch up on the new Scream Queens.”

 

“Yes, that is a must.” Nick declared before he scooped up a large plush spider and tossed it at Ofelia. He'd bought it just to spite her but, much to his dismay, she'd ended up thinking that it was adorable.

 

“Hurry it up or just give me the freaking remote,” Ofelia declared as she snatched it from her friend. She quickly searched ‘How I Met Your Mother’ and began to scroll through the season one episodes.

 

“Time for the Slutty Pumpkin,” the younger brunette announced.

 

Nick shushed them as Ted’s voiceover began and they all glanced, enthralled, at the television screen.

 

“Happy Halloween,” Ofelia whispered suddenly.

 

Alicia smiled, “Happy Halloween guys.”

 

“Yeah, Happy Halloween,” Luciana added.

 

Nick rolled his eyes, “it isn't technically Halloween anymore but Happy Halloween anyway guys.”

 

And with that they were all nestled under blankets, squished on the couch, happily basking in the soft light that the TV emitted and silently relishing in the closeness of their friendship.

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2016


End file.
